The international community has imposed an increasing number of restrictions on the movement and commercial uses of mercury. For instance, some countries have adopted or are experimenting with adopting complete bans on the export of elemental mercury. Once adopted, a mercury ban is likely to have the effect of increasing the supply of elemental mercury beyond the demand for the substance within the affected region. As a result, countries adopting an export ban on elemental mercury could see growing surpluses of mercury.
As noted by the European Union and the United States during debates over their respective mercury regulations, a surplus of elemental mercury is particularly problematic because there is currently no viable long-term storage or disposal technique for elemental mercury. As such, surplus mercury is most commonly stored in its elemental form in iron flasks. These iron flasks are then warehoused and monitored to ensure their ongoing integrity. The long-term strength and durability of these iron flasks is, at least, debatable and, therefore, great concern over potential environmental hazards exists. In response, both the European Union and the United States have cited a need for the development of new technologies capable of converting elemental mercury into solid mercury compounds that are suitable for long-term storage and disposal.
Even in the absence of a mercury ban, some generators of elemental mercury would like to avoid being forced to sell their surplus mercury on the world market. Currently, the law in many jurisdictions (e.g., the United States) requires that all mercury must be sold or recycled. This requirement forces mercury generators to sell their mercury to avoid having to store the mercury indefinitely. The development of a viable mercury treatment option could give mercury generators an alternative to selling their mercury.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach capable of generating a stable solid compound of elemental mercury. A particular need exists for reaction processes capable of minimizing or eliminating the presence of elemental mercury residuals in the resulting mercury compound.